Ani Palchen: in the hospital

[icarus]

Update on Ani (roughly translates to "sister") Palchen, age 80, currently in the hospital:

1. The vascular surgeon reported that the arteries around the heart and bowel were fine, there were no signs of clots. There was, however, a portion of the bowel that was ischemic (dead). This ischemia was due to poor perfusion (inadequate blood flow from the heart) rather than due to a clot. Drolkar reports that part of the bowel continued to die even during the surgery as the perfusion remained poor. They did remove the ischemic portions of the bowel.

2. The liver looked "dusty" which also indicates poor perfusion.

3. The kidneys are also poorly perfused. The liver and kidneys could still recover if the perfusion problem is corrected.

4. The side of the heart where the valve was replaced is doing fine, but the right side of the heart is not doing well. The problem with the right side of the heart has not been identified. This is the source of the perfusion problem and they are currently trying to correct this with a change in her medication regimen.

5. Due to the right sided perfusion problem fluid accumulated in the lungs, they drew off 1 liter of fluid from one lung and 600cc from the other. She currently has drains in her lungs to prevent further build up of fluid.

6. They have put her on heparin and removed her spleen.

7. They are leaving the incision open and will re-evaluate the bowel and organs in the morning to see if the perfusion problem has been adequately corrected. She is due back in at 7:30am. They are keeping the incision covered with a special pad.

8. More decisions will be made tomorrow morning and if things go well they will reassess again on Saturday so incision remains open at least until then.

She might have a pacemaker put in ("installed" sounds too much like computer software) to help the lack of blood flow (?).

Any good wishes, flowers to the pagan gods, prayers to the slash lords or other prayers and good wishes you might send would be appreciated. I was very happy to discover she was still with us. To lose her now would be far too soon.

Comments

[quinfirefrorefiddle]

Of course, my thoughts and prayers are with her.

Have you known her long? What is she like?

[icarus]

Known her since I was in high school. She was a delicate, gentle lady who became more and more ... buoyant? ... as she grew older. She seemed to look on the bright side of everything and was very kind.

She passed away yesterday and will be very much missed.

[quinfirefrorefiddle]

I'm so sorry for your loss.